Current Legal Problems
Current Legal Problems is UCL Faculty of Laws' flagship public lecture series, and was established over 75 years ago. The lectures are public and often chaired by members of the judiciary.
About CLP
The Current Legal Problems lecture series features lectures by world-leading academics (and sometimes practitioners) who have been invited to deliver critical analyses of important current legal issues. Lectures cover all areas of legal scholarship, and feature a wide range of methodological approaches to law.
The lecture series is accompanied by a yearbook, also called Current Legal Problems, which since 2026 has been published by UCL Press. The yearbook collates recent Current Legal Problems lectures, written up as scholarly articles. With its breadth of coverage and emphasis on contemporary developments, Current Legal Problems is a major point of reference for legal scholarship.
Dr Franziska Arnold-Dwyer (University College London)
Dr Mark Dsouza (University College London)
Dr Jeevan Hariharan (University College London)
Professor Maria Lee (University College London)
Prof. Tanya Aplin (King’s College London)
Prof. Jo Braithwaite (The London School of Economics and Political Science)
Professor Nehal Bhuta (The University of Edinburgh)
Prof. Piet Eeckhout (University College London)
Prof. John Lowry (University College London)
Prof. Joana Mendes (University of Luxembourg)
Prof. Paul Mitchell (University College London)
Prof. Vanessa Munro (University of Warwick)
Prof. Erika Rackley (University of Birmingham)
Prof. Silvia Suteu (European University Institute)
Prof. Sharon Thompson (Cardiff University)
Prof. Joe Tomlinson (University of York)
If you have a query about the CLP series or a specific CLP lecture you plan to/are attending email us at laws-events@ucl.ac.uk. Please note contributions to the Current Legal Problems series are by invitation only. We do not accept unsolicited submissions.
CLP series 2025-26
The Editors have secured an excellent line-up of speakers for the Academic year 2025-2026. Please click on the links (where available) to either register your attendance, watch a lecture that has already taken place or save the upcoming dates and times (subject to change) in your diary, more information will be released as we receive it.
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Save the dates! CLP/Inaugural lectures taking place this academic year:
Dr Ben Yong
Bureaucracy and Distrust: The Civil Service in the Constitution
16 October 2025, 18:00-19:00
Prof. Michael Dougan
Membership of the EU in an Era of Geopolitical Disorder
23 October 2025, 18:00-19:00
Prof Niamh Dunne
Regulatory Norms in Competition Law Assessment
30 October 2025, 13:00-14:00
Dr Bolanle Adebola
Justice Driven Insolvency Law: A Normative Theory
13 November 2025, 18:00-19:00
Professor Shazia Choudhry
The ‘ideal mother,’ Family Law and Domestic Abuse – Hybrid
20 November 2025, 18:00-19:00
Prof. Elen Stokes
Is Environmental Law Hopeful?
4 December 2025, 13:00-14:00
Prof. Johanna Gibson
Artificial Intelligence and the Trouble for Authorship: Towards a Legal Theory of Effort
22 January 2026, 13:00-14:00
Prof. Máiréad Enright
Family Memory and the Official History Machine: A Feminist Critique of the British Public Inquiry
29 January 2026, 13:00-14:00
Prof. Oliver Gerstenberg
EU Values, liberal dialogue, and the changing role of the Court of Justice of the EU
5 February 2026, 18:00-19:00
Prof. Antje du Bois-Pedain
Against Pro Tanto Wrongs in the Theoretical Armature of Criminal Liability
12 February 2026, 18:00-19:00
Dr Joseph Lee Nazzini
Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs): Technology, Finance, and the Law
26 February 2026, 18:00-19:00
Prof. Sharon Cowan
Legally Speaking: Understanding Gender and Sex in the Shadow of Law
5 March 2026, 18:00-19:00
Prof. Sharifah Sekalala
Regulating the Digital Health Commons in the Global South
12 March 2026, 13:00-14:00
Prof. Natasha Affolder
Model Law? Template Legal Culture and the Global Production of Environmental Law
19 March 2026, 18:00-19:00
Previous CLP series
Professor Antonia Layard
Public Land Law - Hybrid
Thursday 10 October 2023, 13:00-14:00
Professor Tendayi Achiume
Corporate Borders – Online
17 October 2024, 6:00 pm–7:00 pm
Professor Ben McFarlane
Understanding Equitable Property: More Complex than ABC? - Hybrid
21 November 2024, 6:00 pm–7:00 pm
Joana Mendes
The EU and the Administration’s Unattainable Subordination to the Law - Hybrid
28 November 2024, 18:00-19:00
Dr Sharon Thompson
The ‘Inconspicuous Impact’ of Feminist Pressure Through Law - Hybrid
05 December 2024, 13:00-14:00
Professor Joe Tomlinson
The Social Side of Fair Process – Hybrid
23 January 2025, 18:00-19:00
Professor Shazia Choudhry
The 'ideal mother,' Family Law and Domestic Abuse – Hybrid
30 January 2025, 18:00-19:00 -TO BE RESCHEDULED IN THE NEW ACADEMIC YEAR
Professor Anna Lawson
Accessibility and the Limits of the Equality Act 2010: Time for a New Accessibility Act? – Hybrid
6 February 2025, 18:00-19:00
Professor Melissa Lane
Ancient Greek law as a lens on legal theory of promulgation & purpose – Hybrid
13 February 2025, 18:00-19:00
Professor Devyani Prabhat
Not Just in Outer Space: A story of 'aliens' in Nationality Law - Hybrid
20 February 2025, 18:00-19:00
Dr Anna Chadwick
Towards A Legal Theory Of Prices: Mapping The Conceptual Terrain - Hybrid
6 March 2025, 13:00-14:00
Professor Bebhinn Donelly-Lazarov
What is missing when defendants disown their actions? - Hybrid
13 March 2025, 13:00-14:00
Prof Niamh Dunne
CLP The Europeanisation (and Looming Brexitification) of UK Competition Law - Hybrid
27 March 2025, 13:00-14:00 -TO BE RESCHEDULED IN THE NEW ACADEMIC YEAR
Professor Neha Jain (European University Institute)
'Atrocity's Glass Booth' - Hybrid
Thursday 12 October 2023, 18:00-19:00
Dr Leanne Smith (University of Exeter)
'Family Law for Family Life: Rethinking the Boundaries and Modalities of Family Law' - Hybrid
Thursday 19 October 2023, 18:00-19:00
Professor Dr Tatjana Hörnle (Max Planck Institute)
'The New Law on Sexual Assault and Rape in Germany' - Hybrid
Thursday 2 November 2023, 18:00-19:00
Professor Sarah Paterson (The London School of Economics and Political Science)
'The New Incentives of Senior Lenders in Financial Distress' - Hybrid
Thursday 16 November 2023, 13:00-14:00
Professor Albert Sanchez Graells (University of Bristol)
'Responsibly Buying Artificial Intelligence: A Regulatory Hallucination?' - Hybrid
Thursday 23 November 2023, 18:00-19:00
Dr Ntina Tzouvala (Australian National University)
'Aggression, Capitalism, and International Law: Missed Opportunities or Structural Restraints?' - Hybrid
Thursday 30 November 2023, 13:00-14:00
Professor Myriam Hunter-Henin (University College London)
'Religious Expression and Exemptions in the Private Sector Workplace: Spotting Bias in Legal Reasoning' - INAUGURAL LECTURE (In-person)
Friday 8 December 2023, 18:00-19:00
Dr Ed Mitchell (University of Essex)
'Contracting in the public interest? Re-examining the role of contract in contemporary town planning processes' - Hybrid
Thursday 14 December 2023, 18:00-19:00
Professor Stavros Brekoulakis (Queen Mary University of London)
'Impartiality and the Construction of Trust in Investor State Dispute Settlement'
Thursday 1 February 2024, 13:00-14:00
Professor Lavanya Rajamani (University of Oxford)
'Interpreting the Paris Agreement in its Normative Environment'
Thursday 8 February 2024, 13:00-14:00
Professor John Allison (University of Cambridge)
'Current Legal Fictions in Public Law'
Thursday 22 February 2024, 18:00-19:00
Dr Dionysia Katelouzou (King's College London)
'The Anatomy of Investor Stewardship'
Thursday 7 March 2024, 13:00-14:00
Professor Mariana Mota Prado (University of Toronto)
'Redundancy as a Legal Strategy to Fight Corruption' - Hybrid
Thursday 14 March 2024, 13:00-14:00
Professor Diamond Ashiagbor (University of Kent)
'Race, Legal Form and the Labour Contract' - Hybrid
Thursday 9 May 2024, 18:00-19:00
Professor Carsten Gerner-Beuerle (University College London)
'How to Quantify Legal Rules' - INAUGURAL LECTURE (In-person)
Thursday 23 May 2024, 18:00-19:00
Professor Steven Vaughan (University College London)
'Unethical Environmental Lawyer' - INAUGURAL LECTURE
Thursday 13 October 2022, 18:00-19:00
Professor Eric Descheemaeker (University of Melbourne)
'Against Normative Damages'
Thursday 10 November 2022, 18:00-19:00
James Murray (Taylor Vinters)
'The Thinkery and the Academy'
Thursday 17 November 2022, 18:15-19:15
Professor Kimberley Trapp (University College London)
'Violence in and of International Law' - INAUGURAL LECTURE
Friday 18 November 2022, 18:00-19:00
Professor James Lee (King's College London)
'Not Time to Make a Change? Reviewing the Rhetoric of Law Reform'
Thursday 8 December 2022, 18:00-19:00
Professor Erika Rackley
'A Short Biography of Judicial Diversity'
Thursday 19 January 2023, 18:00-19:00
Dr Dina Waked (SciencesPo Law School)
'Competition Law in Developing Counties: From Fair to Free to Perfect Markets'
Thursday 26 January 2023, 18:00-19:00
Dr Orla Lynskey (LSE)
'Effective or Complete Data Protection'
Thursday 2 February 2023, 18:00-19:00
Professor Patrícia Galvão Teles
'The Advisory Function of International Courts and Tribunals'
Monday 20 February 2023, 18:15-19:15
Dr Janet O'Sullivan (University of Cambridge)
'Gambling Addiction, Financial Loss and Suicide: Exploring the “Outermost Reaches” of the Common Law'
Tuesday 14 March 2023, 18:00-19:00
Professor Ilanah Fhima (University College London)
'3D Shape Marks - a 360 Degree Analysis' - INAUGURAL LECTURE
Thursday 23 March 2023, 18:00-19:00
Professor David Ormerod (University College London)
'The Need for a Criminal Division of the High Court' - INAUGURAL LECTURE
Thursday 11 May 2023, 18:00-19:00
Professor Sarah Green (Law Commissioner for Commercial and Common Law)
'Time for a Tertium Quid'
Thursday 25 May 2023, 18:00-19:00
Professor Payam Akhavan (Massey College, University of Toronto)
'The Perils of Progressive Jurisprudence: The Nullum Crimen Sine Lege Principle in International Criminal Law'
Thursday 14 October 2021, 18:00-19:00
Professor Roderick Bagshaw (University of Oxford)
'Duty of Care: Improving the Possible'
Thursday 21 October 2021, 18:00-19:00
Dr Devika Hovell (The London School of Economics and Political Science)
'The Perils of Positivism in International Law'
Thursday 18 November 2021, 18:00-19:00
Professor Eva Pils (King's College London)
'China's Challenge to International Law'
Thursday 3 February 2022, 18:00-19:00
Professor Sundhya Pahuja (The University of Melbourne)
'Empire Comes Home: Three Phases in the Struggle to Decolonise International Law'
Thursday 10 February 2022, 18:00-19:00
Professor Rebecca Williams (University of Oxford)
'Accountable Algorithms - Adopting the Public Law Toolkit Outside the Realm of Public Law'
Thursday 24 February 2022, 18:00-19:00
Professor Brian Opeskin (University of Technology Sydney)
'Reconsidering Specialisation of Judicial Labour'
Thursday 10 March 2022, 18:00-19:00
Professor Ronan McCrea (University College London)
'Securing a Secular Future in an Era of Secularist Self-Doubt' - INAUGURAL LECTURE
Friday 6 May 2022, 18:00-19:00
Prof. Monica Hakimi (University of Michigan)
'What Might (Finally) Kill the Jus ad Bellum'
Thursday 22 October 2020, 18:00-19:00
Prof. Lusina Ho (The University of Hong Kong)
'The Mental Element in Equitable Accessory Liability'
Thursday 29 October 2020, 18:00-19:00
Dr Lisa Benjamin (Lewis & Clark Law School)
'Group Companies and Climate Change'
Thursday 5 November 2020, 18:30-19:30
Prof. Anne Orford (The University of Melbourne)
'Regional Orders and International Law'
Thursday 26 November 2020, 12:00-13:00
Prof. Ruth Rubio Marin (University of Sevilla)
'The Gendering of Constitutionalism'
Wednesday 27 January 2021, 18:00-19:00
Prof. Mark Lunney (King's College London)
'From Parker to the Australia Acts'
Thursday 4 February 2021, 18:00-19:00
Prof. Orna Rabinovich-Einy (University of Haifa)
'The Past, Present and Future of Online Dispute Resolution'
Thursday 11 February 2021, 18:00-19:00
Prof. Niamh Nic Shuibhne (University of Edinburgh)
'Did Brexit Change EU Law?'
Thursday 25 February 2021, 18:00-19:00
Prof. Rosie Harding (Birmingham Law School)
'Safeguarding Freedom'
Thursday 4 March 2021, 18:00-19:00
Prof. Nico Krisch (The Graduate Institute Geneva)
'The Process of Change in International Law'
Thursday 18 March 2021, 18:00-19:00
Dr Shreya Atrey (University Oxford)
'Race Discrimination Without Racism'
Thursday 25 March 2021, 18:00-19:00